OUR radio station charity Cash for Kids at Magic 1170 does great work here in the North East.

I’m so proud to be a trustee of it, which among other things means I get to be one of the people who decides which grants we make.

To put it in real terms, that means deciding which deserving youngsters get the trike, or sensory room, or computer that could help them overcome – or at least minimalise – the disability that they have.

As you can imagine, it’s an agonising task, and there’s never enough cash to help everyone, generous though our supporters are. We got a letter from a parent the other week at Cash for Kids that really moved us. Amanda Newton’s eldest daughter is called Naomi, and she is autistic.

She’s by no means alone. Daisy Chain, the local autism charity, helped 800 families last year and is set to help more than 1000 this year.

One of the things that would really help Naomi, along with other autistic children is a sensory room and play area.

We get 20 or 30 requests per year for this sort of equipment, so what we decided to do was team up on air for a fortnight with Daisy Chain, and try to raise enough money to fully equip a day centre with all this kit, so that hundreds of children could benefit for years to come.

How much will all this cost? Get ready . . . £45,000.

They’ve already built the day centre at their Norton-based farm. They already benefit hundreds of families. This money is to equip the centre with what they need.

With the help of listeners, and, indeed, readers of this column, Cash for Kids can help them do so much more.

If every reader of this paper, and every listener to the radio station sent us just £1, we’d have the money and more by return of post.

If you’ve been lucky enough to have a normal childhood, or are the parent of an untroubled child, spare a thought for the one in 100 of your neighbours who are touched by autism.